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American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias®, Vol. 21, No. 5, 347-353 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1533317506292499

Becoming Forgetful: How Elderly People Deal With Forgetfulness in Everyday Life

Lorenz Imhof, PhD, RN

Memory Clinic-Neuropsychology Center, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, lorenz.imhof{at}bluewin.ch

Margaret I. Wallhagen, PhD, APRN, BC, GNP

School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco

Romy Mahrer-Imhof, PhD, RN

Institute of Nursing Science, University of Basel, Switzerland

Andreas U. Monsch, PhD

Memory Clinic-Neuropsychology Center, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland

Studies show that complaints about being forgetful are weakly correlated with standardized measures of memory impairment. Little attention has been paid to those complaints in a healthy elderly population. Therefore, this qualitative, grounded-theory study investigated the experiences and consequences of becoming forgetful. In-depth interviews with 32 participants were conducted and analyzed. The findings show that forgetfulness became part of daily life through 3 strategies, conceptualized as doing forgetfulness: (1) reducing complexity; (2) creating and maintaining routines; and (3) dealing with feelings of embarrassment and shame. The well-being of people experiencing forgetfulness depended on how successfully they performed the strategies of doing forgetfulness. Gaining insight into this process allows health care professionals to assess the phenomenon early and to individualize counseling and further diagnostic procedures.

Key Words: forgetfulness • memory complaints • mild cognitive impairment • grounded theory • elderly people • nursing


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